At the gates of the Royal Magic Academy, countless students gathered around.
Stretching their necks, they looked curiously outside the gates and whispered excitedly, "So that's the First Prince."
"He's so handsome, wearing that golden armor."
The students' eyes all focused on one place.
There, the First Prince stood majestically in front of the academy gates, dressed in shining golden armor.
Sunlight reflected off his armor, giving off a dazzling golden glow.
The students crowded around the railings, their eyes reflecting the First Prince's radiant figure.
Their mouths hung open in astonishment.
Their admiration surged toward the First Prince like waves.
This was completely different from how they treated Viktor.
Although Professor Viktor was extremely powerful, very few students dared approach him.
After all, facing this highly respected professor required tremendous courage.
Just getting close to Viktor made the students feel an invisible pressure, as though a thousand-pound rock was resting on their shoulders.
And it wasn't just because Viktor was powerful.
Professor Viktor had far too many identities.
Chief Professor of the Royal Magic Academy, member of the Mage Council, Count of the Empire, and Princess Aurelian's personal tutor...
With all these identities combined, students' hearts would tremble even when they merely mentioned Viktor's name.
But the First Prince was completely different. His reputation was widely known throughout the royal capital.
Kind and gentle, patient and considerate, he treated everyone equally, from high-ranking officials to young children, and even street beggars.
He had even slain a dragon before and brought its head back to the royal capital, displaying his extraordinary strength.
He was powerful, yet humble and composed.
He had guarded the monster rift in the south of the Empire for many years and had never suffered defeat, making tremendous contributions to the Empire's safety.
Surrounded by all these achievements, the students were filled with admiration for him.
Even the golden light reflected by his armor brought them a sense of peace and security.
Because of this, the First Prince had gained a title fitting his experiences...
[Perfect Hero]
At this moment, he entered the academy with a kind smile and waved to the students on both sides.
His steady face, carrying the traces of age and hardship, held a warmth like the spring breeze.
The guards behind him followed him into the academy. Seeing this, the students became even more excited.
"Will it be the same as every year?"
"I wonder if I'll get chosen..."
They discussed among themselves, their eyes full of expectations for the First Prince.
In fact, the First Prince returned to the Royal Magic Academy almost every year.
He would always select some young mages to join the force guarding the southern border.
To deal with the war in the south, the First Prince's legion needed to recruit new mages every year.
They could fight on the battlefield or handle treating the wounded and managing logistics in the rear.
Usually, those logistical duties would be given first to students who joined the legion from the academy.
Many students chosen by the legion were willing to join and follow the First Prince to the southern border of the Empire to temper themselves.
For these students who had never experienced real warfare, joining a frontline legion was undoubtedly an exciting experience.
Moreover, after going through such training, they would have another impressive qualification added to their records after graduation.
They might even have the opportunity to gain priority in joining the royal-exclusive Yade Mage Corps.
Even for noble families, this was an immense honor.
More importantly, even nobles would allow their children to train in the south.
After all, the army guarding the southern frontier was personally led by the Empire's First Prince.
The legion was full of elites and possessed tremendous strength.
Although they were stationed on the front lines, the safety of the students within the legion was practically guaranteed.
After all, the First Prince recruited students from the academy for training. He certainly couldn't let them become cannon fodder.
In short, joining the army came with excellent treatment and almost no downsides.
At this moment, as the First Prince walked through the academy, he occasionally waved to the students watching from both sides.
He could clearly see the admiration and expectations in their eyes.
In fact, the First Prince greatly enjoyed this feeling of being admired by countless people and being viewed as a hero.
But...
As he walked, after the number of students around him had decreased considerably, he couldn't help letting out a deep sigh inwardly.
This time, while part of the reason for his return was hearing that his sister Aurelian had been chosen by the Emperor as the future heir to the throne, there were even more reasons than that.
The war in the south had become increasingly tense and dangerous.
The monster rift had continued to expand, and powerful monsters constantly poured out of it, making them impossible to stop effectively.
This had caused heavy casualties among the adventurers and soldiers stationed around the rift.
Clearly, relying solely on adventurers to enter the rift and eliminate monsters was no longer enough.
Even the top adventurer guilds had difficulty resisting the massive waves of monsters.
Especially the most famous adventurer guild, [Beast Guild].
After announcing its alliance with the Clavenna family, the Beast Guild had gone from neutral to becoming one of the Clavenna family's forces.
It wasn't that they weren't putting in effort, but the number of Beast Guild members remaining in the south had greatly decreased.
Most of the important core members had already left the southern Empire.
The majority had moved to the Clavenna family's territory, Blyston.
There, they worked as caravan guards or protected the territory in exchange for generous rewards.
Fortunately, Guild Master Hera, known as the "Beast," still remained in the south.
And she was one of the people fighting hardest against the monsters on the front lines of the rift.
Actually, the monster rift in the south hadn't deteriorated this quickly at first.
If Albany had discovered the problem earlier, perhaps measures could have been taken in advance.
But because of his negligence...
Albany only realized she had disappeared almost a month later.
He had originally placed Sapphire in the lower layers of the rift to prevent the monsters there from spreading upward too quickly.
Those monsters should have served as Sapphire's food, and she should have acted like a chain restraining the expansion of the monster rift.
But now, with Sapphire gone, the lower levels had become a dangerous area with no one managing it.
Monsters were appearing faster and faster, and stronger monsters were continuously rushing upward.
The situation was becoming worse by the day.
If a solution wasn't found soon, then in less than two months, the southern Empire would likely be completely swallowed by a tide of monsters.
Thinking of this, Albany sighed helplessly again.
There was no point in thinking about it any longer.
Right now, he urgently needed to find a solution.
And the first person Albany thought of was Viktor.
Turning his head slightly, Albany quietly asked the guard behind him, "Any news about Count Viktor?"
The guard lowered his head respectfully and reported, "Your Highness."
"It seems Count Viktor is teaching right now... after all, he is also a professor at this academy."
Albany raised a hand to his chin, his eyes fixed on the road as he carefully thought about it.
It really didn't seem strange.
The reason he had come to the academy to find Viktor was because he knew Viktor was a professor here.
Yet after arriving, he had instead overlooked that identity.
Viktor's many titles had caused his position as a professor to appear relatively insignificant beneath his other honors.
Albany took a deep breath, came back to himself, and looked toward a towering teaching castle.
"Let's go directly to Count Viktor's class."
"I hope we won't disturb his lesson."
———
Inside the quiet classroom, Viktor sat in a chair with one leg crossed, holding a thick magic book in his hands.
Behind him, the blackboard was covered in all kinds of magical knowledge written in white chalk.
The neat handwriting spared no corner of the board.
Those white lines looked like flames burning across the blackboard.
The students looked at the knowledge written there as though it were treasure. Eager for its nourishment, they wrote furiously in their notebooks.
Because the knowledge Professor Viktor taught was simply too exquisite.
By now, this had become Professor Viktor's latest teaching method.
He usually wasn't at the academy and only returned occasionally to teach a few classes when he had time.
However, his teaching style was rather unique.
He would casually write some things on the blackboard, summon a chair with magic, take out a book, and sit down quietly.
And once he sat down, that was usually an entire class period.
Many people might criticize this teaching style, but fortunately, Professor Viktor's knowledge was simply too profound.
Complex magical theories that should have been difficult somehow became easy to understand once written on the blackboard.
Of course, the students didn't know.
The reason he taught like this was simply because Henny was no longer his assistant, and Viktor didn't know how to teach.
So he could only write down a bunch of magic theories Vega had secretly told him.
That was all.
While Viktor silently rested and the students frantically copied notes, the quiet classroom, filled only with the sound of writing, was interrupted by a sudden knock.
The students stopped writing and turned toward the source of the sound.
Without even raising his head, Viktor said calmly, "Come in."
The door opened, and a noble-looking man in splendid golden armor walked inside.
"Count Viktor."
He stepped into the classroom, his eyes fixed directly on Viktor.
The moment the students saw who it was, their eyes widened, and shock surged through them.
Wasn't this the Empire's First Prince, Albany?
He had actually come to visit Professor Viktor.
However, Professor Viktor was not as friendly as they had imagined.
Viktor still didn't look at him. He calmly turned a page of his book and replied, "If you've come to chat with me, then wait here until class ends and don't disturb the students."
"If you've come to see me for some other purpose... then I need to remind you of something."
Viktor quietly closed the book. Light flickered in his eyes as he spoke coldly, "I belong to the Princess."